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We provide the first combined cosmological analysis of the South Pole Telescope (SPT) and Planck cluster catalogs. The aim is to provide an independent calibration for Planck scaling relations, exploiting the cosmological constraining power of the SPT-SZ cluster catalog and its dedicated weak lensing (WL) and X-ray follow-up observations. We build a new version of the Planck cluster likelihood. In the ν Λ CDM scenario, focusing on the mass slope and mass bias of Planck scaling relations, we find α SZ = 1.49 âˆ' 0.10 + 0.07 and 1 âˆ' b SZ = 0.69 âˆ' 0.14 + 0.07 , respectively. The results for the mass slope show a ∼4 σ departure from the self-similar evolution, α SZ ∼ 1.8. This shift is mainly driven by the matter density value preferred by SPT data, Ω m = 0.30 ± 0.03, lower than the one obtained by Planck data alone, Ω m = 0.37 âˆ' 0.06 + 0.02 . The mass bias constraints are consistent both with outcomes of hydrodynamical simulations and external WL calibrations, (1 âˆ' b) ∼ 0.8, and with results required by the Planck cosmic microwave background cosmology, (1 âˆ' b) ∼ 0.6. From this analysis, we obtain a new catalog of Planck cluster masses M 500. We estimate the ratio between the published Planck M SZ masses and our derived masses M 500, as a “measured mass bias,” 1 âˆ' b M . We analyze the mass, redshift, and detection noise dependence of 1 âˆ' b M , finding an increasing trend toward high redshift and low mass. These results mimic the effect of departure from self-similarity in cluster evolution, showing different dependencies for the low-mass, high-mass, low- z, and high- z regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nous rapportons le cas d'une patiente de 89 ans adressée aux urgences pour épigastralgies et vomissements. Une dégradation hémodynamique, associée à des modifications du segment ST et une troponinémie légèrement augmentée, incitait à réaliser une coronarographie en urgence qui s'avérait normale. Le scanner thoraco-abdominal retrouvait une volumineuse hernie hiatale responsable d'une compression cardiaque avec obstruction intraventriculaire gauche objectivée en doppler cardiaque. L'ensemble des symptômes ainsi que les anomalies électrocardiographiques et échocardiographiques ont régressé après aspiration nasogastrique. We report the case of a 89 year-old woman admitted to the emergency department for epigastric pain, nausea, vomiting. Because of a circulatory failure with electrocardiographic ST changes and a slight elevation of ultra-sensible troponin, a coronary angiography was performed and found normal coronary arteries. Thoraco-abdominal CT scan revealed a large hiatal hernia causing a cardiac compression, and a left intraventricular obstruction showed by Doppler echocardiography. All signs resolved after fasting and gastric drainage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Background: Recent studies have shown an increasing incidence of cutaneous adnexal carcinomas (CACs). Objectives: The aim of our study was to evaluate incidence and survival for cases of CACs and investigate their association with other skin neoplasms. Methods: We conducted a population‐based study. Data on incident cases of CACs were obtained from the Tuscany Cancer Registry between 1985 and 2010. In order to determine whether the occurrence of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) among patients with CAC is higher or lower than expected in the general population, the standardized incidence ratio (SIR) was calculated. Results: A total of 242 patients with CAC were observed; the age‐standardized incidence rate was 3·8 cases per million person‐years. From 1997 to 2010 crude incidence rates increased by 159%. Age‐specific incidence was higher in men over 80 years old than in women of the same age and younger individuals. Carcinomas of sweat gland origin prevailed; the most common histotype was porocarcinoma and the most frequently affected site was the head/neck. Overall, 88% of CACs were diagnosed at a localized stage. The 5‐year overall survival and disease‐specific survival rates were 59% [95% confidence interval (CI) 53–65] and 94% (95% CI 91–98), respectively. In the observation cohort, the number of SCCs was significantly higher than expected as the SIR was calculated to be 33·7 (P < 0·001). Conclusions: Increasing incidence warrants awareness and early diagnosis of CACs. Increased SCC incidence among patients with these tumours highlights the relevance of careful skin examination and follow‐up. What's already known about this topic? Cutaneous adnexal carcinomas (CACs) are rare tumours, but their incidence is increasing.The rarity of these tumours has made it difficult to gain sufficient clinicopathological experience regarding the diagnosis and treatment of CACs.CACs can be a diagnostic challenge owing to mostly nonspecific clinical presentation and histopathological variety that often requires specific expertise for a definite diagnosis. What does this study add? CAC incidence increased from 2·5 per million person‐years in 1985–87 to 19 per million person‐years in 2009–10; from 1997 the incidence has constantly increased, rising to 159% in 2010.In patients with CAC, the risk of squamous cell carcinoma is 34 times higher than in the general population.Considering demographic evolution with a progressively ageing population and higher incidence of CACs among the elderly, it is reasonable to expect a further increase in the future. Respond to this article Linked Comment:Andersen. Br J Dermatol 2019; 180:453–454. Plain language summary available online [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between fine resolution, local-scale biophysical and socioeconomic contexts within which land degradation occurs, and the human responses to it. The research draws on experimental data collected under different territorial and socioeconomic conditions at 586 field sites in five Mediterranean countries (Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco). We assess the level of desertification risk under various land management practices (terracing, grazing control, prevention of wildland fires, soil erosion control measures, soil water conservation measures, sustainable farming practices, land protection measures and financial subsidies) taken as possible responses to land degradation. A data mining approach, incorporating principal component analysis, non-parametric correlations, multiple regression and canonical analysis, was developed to identify the spatial relationship between land management conditions, the socioeconomic and environmental context (described using 40 biophysical and socioeconomic indicators) and desertification risk. Our analysis identified a number of distinct relationships between the level of desertification experienced and the underlying socioeconomic context, suggesting that the effectiveness of responses to land degradation is strictly dependent on the local biophysical and socioeconomic context. Assessing the latent relationship between land management practices and the biophysical/socioeconomic attributes characterizing areas exposed to different levels of desertification risk proved to be an indirect measure of the effectiveness of field actions contrasting land degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil degradation and desertification processes in the Mediterranean basin reflect the interplay between environmental and socioeconomic drivers. An approach to evaluate comparatively the multiple relationships between biophysical variables and socioeconomic factors is illustrated in the present study using the data collected from 586 field sites located in five Mediterranean areas (Spain, Greece, Turkey, Tunisia and Morocco). A total of 47 variables were chosen to illustrate land-use, farm characteristics, population pressure, tourism development, rainfall regime, water availability, soil properties and vegetation cover, among others. A data mining approach incorporating non-parametric inference, principal component analysis and hierarchical clustering was developed to identify candidate syndromes of soil degradation and desertification risk. While field sites in the same study area showed a substantial similarity, the multivariate relationship among variables diverged among study areas. Data mining techniques proved to be a practical tool to identify spatial determinants of soil degradation and desertification risk. Our findings identify the contrasting spatial patterns for biophysical and socioeconomic variables, in turn associated with different responses to land degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study illustrates a framework to evaluate soil consumption in Mediterranean regions experiencing rapid urban growth. Results indicate that high-quality soils more suitable for agriculture and forestry were mostly consumed by urbanization especially in flat areas. The consumption of these soils was not concentrated in the first observation period (1948-1975) corresponding to the development of compact settlements, but increased significantly in the last period (1975-2010) mainly characterized by discontinuous and low-density urban expansion. The study underlines the urgent need to inform development policies and urban planning with an in-depth quantification of the soil resource base lost by urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, aridity and drought have become crucial issues at the global scale because of their environmental and socio-economic implications. On the one hand, aridity causes a reduction in the biological and economic productivity of terrestrial ecosystems, and represents a serious threat to ecological, biogeochemical, and hydrological processes. On the other hand, human use (and abuse) of vulnerable dry land ecosystems may lead to unsustainable land management. Based on these considerations, this paper analyses the recent land cover changes observed in Latium (Italy) during the exceptionally dry period 2000-2007. More than 50% of the area investigated was classified as dry in 2004-2007 compared with 0% in 2000-2003. Moreover, climatic aridity impacted differently on semi-natural, agricultural, and built-up land. These findings illustrate a possible scenario for suburban Mediterranean regions: increasing aridity (mainly due to rising temperatures) mainly impacting on peri-urban land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary. The Fas system is involved in the control of immune system homeostasis and nonfunctional Fas system leads to autoimmune disease in mice and humans. The Fas system is a mechanism through which cells expressing Fas ligand (FasL) induce apoptosis of Fas expressing cells. In mouse and rat, the testis represents the main source of constitutive FasL in the body. The roles so far proposed for this molecule in the testis, such as maintenance of immunoprivilege and regulation of physiological germ cell apoptosis, need to be reconsidered as both hypotheses are based on an erroneous cellular location of FasL in the seminiferous epithelium. Recently, we demonstrated that in rodents FasL mRNA is present in germ cells and not in Sertoli cells, and that FasL protein is displayed on the surface of spermatozoa. Here we propose that, for the mouse spermatozoa, the FasL may represent a self-defence mechanism against lymphocytes present in the female genital tract. To verify this hypothesis, we performed crossings between males gld , with nonfunctional FasL, and syngenic or nonsyngenic females. We observed a significant decrease of litter size in outbred crossings with gld males compared with wild-type males, suggesting a possible role of FasL in immunoprotection of the sperm in the female genital tract. The possibility that in humans, by analogy with mouse, FasL plays a self-protective role for the spermatozoon cannot be excluded, and awaits experimental information on the expression of FasL on human sperm cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linked Article: De Giorgi et al. Br J Dermatol 2019; 180:565–573 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Globally, skin cancer is one of most common forms of cancer. There are several types, the most common being non‐melanoma skin cancer, which includes basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). In the UK, more than 100,000 new cases of non‐melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed every year. Cutaneous adnexal carcinomas (CACs) are rare tumors which are often difficult to diagnose. This study, from Italy, aimed to evaluate how the number of CACs in the population has changed over time and identify if there is a link between CAC presence and the risk of developing SCC. Data was analysed from the Tuscany Cancer Registry (TCR) from a 25‐year time period between 1985 and 2010. 242 patients with CACs were identified from this period with the number of patients with CACs growing from 2.5 per million in 1985‐87 to 19 per million in 2009‐10. Between 1997 and 2010, CAC presence in the population increased by 159%. It was also found that patients with CAC were 34 times more likely to develop SCC later in life than those without CAC, suggesting that this is a significant risk factor. The authors of this study predict that the number of patients with CAC is likely to continue to increase, due to an ageing population. This combined with the link between CAC and SCC highlights the need to improve diagnosis of CACs in the future. Linked Article: De Giorgi et al. Br J Dermatol 2019; 180:565–573 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metastasis is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with cancer. Tissue trauma and any ensuing chronic inflammation could facilitate metastasis through two distinct but not mutually exclusive pathways. [Extracted from the article]

The present study investigates long-term changes in climate aridity in association with urbanization, industrial development and the use of land in Thriasio plain, Greece. Resident population and established activities increased rapidly in Thriasio although with a growth rate varying among municipalities. Non-linear regressions were run to estimate the growth of economic activities on a local scale. Meteorological indexes showed a trend towards warmer and drier climate consistent with the intense process of urbanization and industrialization observed on a local scale. Our results indicate the urgent need for measures mitigating climate aridity in mixed urban-rural landscapes surrounding large Mediterranean cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impacts of climate change and decreasing local resources are increasingly threatening the resilience and sustainable management of urban areas and infrastructures worldwide. To cope with such threads and vulnerabilities, urban sustainability and resilience oriented plans have been developed. Accordingly, policy makers need to learn how to properly integrate urban sustainability with urban resilience principles and practices in the re-shaping of urban agendas. In order to highlight the future potential of integrating transformative resilience principles into the general sustainability approach, this paper provides a critical review of a recent and successful urban regeneration and development plan, the “Mexico City Green Plan”. This paper also discusses a feasibility study for urban redevelopment and transition towards resilience in Mexico City, in order to illustrate the necessity and potential of urban resilience for the improvement of the life prospects of disadvantaged inhabitant groups. The Valle del Chalco neighborhood in Mexico City is presented as an example, whereby resilient and sustainable urban transformation was achieved through an integrated and sustainable decentralized water management and infrastructure plan. In practice, the terms ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Resilience’ can be exploited to justify conventional, non-sustainable urban development practices. The results discussed in this paper demonstrate the necessity of the integration of transformative resilience principles within sustainable urban redevelopment and regeneration. The main findings are i) Policy makers underestimate the potential of urban resilience in shaping more sustainable urban futures, since they only understand resilience as the flipside of specific vulnerabilities, ii) The building of urban resilience within sustainable urban transitions and redevelopment can effectively foster people empowerment, particularly in combination with the decentralization of resources management systems, and iii) The main challenge for the implementation and execution of transitions processes towards urban resilience and sustainability is the elimination of political barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluates the effect of two different kinds of liquid organic fertilizers and a mineral fertilizer on microbial populations (Eubacteria and Archaea) living in the tomato rhizosphere. The organic fertilizers comprised a stillage from bakery yeasts production, characterized by acidic pH and high organic nitrogen content, as well as a vermicompost extract with alkaline pH and low nitrogen content. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of Archaea species significantly increased after the addition of both the organic and mineral fertilizers, in comparison to the unfertilized control. Eubacteria OTUs increased only in plants treated with the stillage. T-RFLPs profiles identified different clusters of soil rhizospheric Archaea and Eubacteria in treatments of both organic and mineral fertilizers. However, multivariate analyses performed on indicators of genetic diversity, based on the T-RFLPs profiles, and Shannon and equitability indexes of the Archaea and Eubacteria communities, pointed out marked differences between the control (or the mineral fertilization) and the organic fertilizers. The latter treatments induced also a higher root growth and a modification of the root architecture in comparison to both control and mineral fertilizer. The results are discussed with reference to the effect of the organic products on rhizospheric soil characteristics and the relationships between the plant and the rhizospheric microorganisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role that land-use and socioeconomic factors exert on consolidating land degradation (LD) processes is a major research issue. However, intensity and type of the impact played by LD on such land use factors is still underexplored. The present study investigates the role of LD on land-use change (LUC) trajectories of land abandonment (LA) and urban expansion (URB) in the three geographical repartitions (North, Centre, South) of Italy between 1990 and 2012, by means of the Environmental Niche Factor Analysis (ENFA). ENFA is a multivariate approach originally introduced in the analysis of animal ecology allowing to compute habitat suitability (HS) models without requiring presence/absence data. Four environmental quality indices about climate (CQI), soil (SQI), vegetation (VQI) and land management (MQI) have been analyzed for the years 1990 and 2000 and related to the trajectories of LA and URB, respectively, for the time periods 1990–2000 and 2000–2012. Empirical results have indicated that different driving forces are linked to LA and URB, and that for each trajectory, the role of some forces may change over time. Evidence shows that soil quality and low human pressure represent the main drivers of LA. By contrast, as for URB, high human pressure represented the main driving factor throughout the country, both during 1990–2000 and 2000–2012. The HS maps show the probability arrangement of LA and URB in the three geographical repartitions. Starting from this work, further research is increasingly required to implement prediction models of future LA and URB trajectories according to the current land quality status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land Degradation (LD) is a complex phenomenon resulting in a progressive reduction in the capacity of providing ecosystem services (ES). Landscape transformations promoting an unsustainable use of land often reveal latent processes of LD. An evaluation carried out in respect to the different ecosystem services is nowadays regarded as the most appropriate approach for assessing the effects of LD. The aim of this study is to develop an evaluation framework for identifying the linkages between land changes, LD processes and ES and suggesting Sustainable Land Management (SLM) options suited to reverse (or mitigate) LD impact. A SWOT analysis was carried out with the aim to identify internal and external factors that are favorable (or unfavorable) to achieve the proposed SLM actions. The study areas are the Fortore valley and the Valpadana, in Italy. The main trajectory identified for the Fortore valley is related to land abandonment due to population aging and the progressive emigration started in the 1950s. The most relevant LD processes are soil erosion and geomorphological instability, affecting regulating services such as natural hazard and erosion control. SLM options should consider interventions to contrast geomorphological instability, the promotion of climate smart agriculture and of typical products, and an efficient water resources management. The main trajectories identified for Valpadana are related to urban expansion and farmland abandonment and, as a consequence, land take due to anthropogenic pressure and woodland expansion as the main LD process. The reduction of food production was identified as the most relevant provisioning service affected. SLM should envisage best practices finalized to water saving and soil consumption reduction: efficient irrigation solutions, climate smart agriculture and zero sealing practices. This study highlights the diagnostic value of the suggested approach where LD processes are elicited from land change trajectories determining specific impacts on ES and providing operational support for the implementation of SLM options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land use/land cover changes (LULCCs) represent the result of the complex interaction between biophysical factors and human activity, acting over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. The aim of this work is to quantify the role of biophysical factors in constraining the trajectories of land abandonment and urbanization in the last 50 years. A habitat suitability model borrowed from animal ecology was used to analyze the ecological niche of the following LULCC trajectories occurred in Emilia-Romagna (northern Italy) during 1954–2008: (i) land abandonment (LA) and (ii) urbanization (URB), both from agricultural areas (URB_agr) and from semi-natural areas (URB_for). Results showed that the different LULCC trajectories were driven by different combinations of biophysical factors, such as climate, topography and soil quality. In particular, slope and elevation resulted as the main driving factors for rural processes, while slope and temperatures resulted as the main constraints underlying urban processes. This approach may represent a conceptual and technical step toward the systematic assessment of LULCC processes, thus providing an effective support tool to inform decision makers about land use transformations, their underlying causes, as well as their possible implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land degradation is a complex process resulting from the permanent interaction between physical and human factors. The effect of changes in land-use and land management on soil erosion and desertification risk has been studied in Messara Valley (Crete, Greece) over the last six decades (1950–2010). Vegetation cover and land-use have been analyzed using representative aerial photographs and ortho-photomaps for representative dates. Soil attributes have been described in a semi-detailed survey in 2010. Soil erosion rates and desertification risk have been assessed for each period using the PESERA and TERON models and the MEDALUS methodology, respectively. Based on distinct socio-ecological characteristics of the area three major time intervals have been identified. Cereals extensively cultivated during the first time interval were progressively replaced by olive plantations and vineyards in the following periods. Soil erosion due to water runoff was important especially in the olive transition period, declining in the olive subsidy period. However, tillage erosion became an important degradation process especially in the olive subsidy period due to mechanization of the agriculture determining soil losses ranging from 0.5 to 30 cm in sloping areas. Desertification risk due to soil erosion and land characteristics has significantly increased during the olive subsidy period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]